Chapter 4
About “Publius Ovidius Naso” ({ 17 p. Chr. n.)
and His Poems Written in the “Getae”
Language
Nicolae V. Dura ˘
Abstract At Tomis, the capital of “Scythia Minor” (Roman province) – where
Ovid was exiled by Emperor Augustus in 8 p. Chr. – the roman poet wrote also
“getic verses”, i.e. in the language of the Getae, one of the northern tribes of
Thraciens, the forefathers of Romanians.
Among others, in his poems written in the “Getae” language, Ovid confesses that
he had adopted himself to the Tomitan environment, recte to the getic culture and
civilization, due also to the fact that the language of the proto-romanians (the
tracian-geto-dacians) was not so different from Latin, his native language. The
linguists’ latest research otherwise confirms that the “Getic” language had a lexical
fund very similar to that of the language spoken by the Etruscans from Latium,
which allowed Ovid to learn the “Getic” language so fast. Nowadays, such a
similarity is revealed by the two neo-Latin languages, Romanian and Italian.
Keywords Latin language • Getic language • The first Latin poet of “Getae” •
The Tomitan civilization and culture
4.1 Introductory Regard
In 8 p. Chr. n., Ovid was exiled – by Emperor Augustus’s order – at Tomis, the
capital of Scythia Minor, which had became a Roman province in 27 a. Chr. n.
Three languages were spoken in the geographic area of Scythia Minor, namely
the inhabitants’ language (the Thracian-Geto-Dacians’), Latin (the government
language) and Greek, a kind of “lingua franca” of that time, used not only by the
scholars of that time (philosophers, writers, historians, geographers, people of
polytheistic religions etc.), but also by the descendants of the former colonists
from Asia Minor (the Greek or the Hellenized Thracians), who usually dealt with
trade.
N.V. Dura ˘ (*)
Ovidius University of Constanta, Academy of Romanian Scientists, Constanta, Romania
e-mail: nicolaedidimos@yahoo.com
© Springer International Publishing AG 2018
C.W. Finkl, C. Makowski (eds.), Diversity in Coastal Marine Sciences, Coastal
Research Library 23, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-57577-3_4
67
About “Publius Ovidius Naso” ({ 17 p. Chr. n.)
and His Poems Written in the “Getae”
Language
Nicolae V. Dura ˘
Abstract At Tomis, the capital of “Scythia Minor” (Roman province) – where
Ovid was exiled by Emperor Augustus in 8 p. Chr. – the roman poet wrote also
“getic verses”, i.e. in the language of the Getae, one of the northern tribes of
Thraciens, the forefathers of Romanians.
Among others, in his poems written in the “Getae” language, Ovid confesses that
he had adopted himself to the Tomitan environment, recte to the getic culture and
civilization, due also to the fact that the language of the proto-romanians (the
tracian-geto-dacians) was not so different from Latin, his native language. The
linguists’ latest research otherwise confirms that the “Getic” language had a lexical
fund very similar to that of the language spoken by the Etruscans from Latium,
which allowed Ovid to learn the “Getic” language so fast. Nowadays, such a
similarity is revealed by the two neo-Latin languages, Romanian and Italian.
Keywords Latin language • Getic language • The first Latin poet of “Getae” •
The Tomitan civilization and culture
4.1 Introductory Regard
In 8 p. Chr. n., Ovid was exiled – by Emperor Augustus’s order – at Tomis, the
capital of Scythia Minor, which had became a Roman province in 27 a. Chr. n.
Three languages were spoken in the geographic area of Scythia Minor, namely
the inhabitants’ language (the Thracian-Geto-Dacians’), Latin (the government
language) and Greek, a kind of “lingua franca” of that time, used not only by the
scholars of that time (philosophers, writers, historians, geographers, people of
polytheistic religions etc.), but also by the descendants of the former colonists
from Asia Minor (the Greek or the Hellenized Thracians), who usually dealt with
trade.
N.V. Dura ˘ (*)
Ovidius University of Constanta, Academy of Romanian Scientists, Constanta, Romania
e-mail: nicolaedidimos@yahoo.com
© Springer International Publishing AG 2018
C.W. Finkl, C. Makowski (eds.), Diversity in Coastal Marine Sciences, Coastal
Research Library 23, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-57577-3_4
67